Regarding the bland subject, I don't know why but part of me wants to see you layer in an "apparition" very faintly - somewhere deep into the picture, just left of center... A "ghost" of sorts wandering within the forest... Something that the eye is attracted to but not so sharp that it becomes the subject.
That's my knee-jerk reaction to this photo. I like it but have to agree that the subject isn't very "grasping".